Ten toughest Nebraska high school baseball schedules this season

With district baseball beginning in Nebraska this weekend, we dove into our MaxPreps Nebraska baseball rankings and sifted through the strength of schedule data to determine which Cornhusker State clubs competed against the toughest baseball schedules this season.

As usual the race for the top spot was tight. The top four programs finished the regular season within a couple of points of each other.

We also discovered that several of the state's top teams played some of the grittiest schedules in the Cornhusker State. Five of Nebraska's Top 15 squads landed in this week's Top 10, with top-ranked Millard West staking its claim to the No. 5 spot. Third-ranked Elkhorn South sits on the No. 4 rung this week.

Omaha Creighton Prep, ranked No. 10 in Nebraska, heads into district play having played the Cornhusker State's most difficult schedule. The Junior Jays went 16-10 against a schedule that put together a 407-278 record collectively and should be prepared for postseason play beginning Thursday.

Millard North has gone 7-17 so far this spring, but competed against the state's second-toughest slate. The Mustangs own a pair of 6-5 wins over No. 3 Elkhorn South and ninth-ranked Papillion-LaVista South and have produced a 2-8 record against Nebraska's Top 10 squads.

After competing against the third strongest slate, No. 9 Millard South takes a 20-12 record into postseason play. The Patriots faced a schedule that went 484-352 collectively during the regular season.

Millard North played the top schedule, among members of this week's Top 10, when it comes to combined opponent winning percentage. Millard North's opposition put together a 405-246 record collectively, which calculates to a .622 winning percentage.

Omaha Creighton Prep (.594) and Elkhorn South (.583) were the top challengers to the Mustangs in that category.

Every member of this week's Top 10 resides in Class A, but that doesn't mean Class B and Class C baseball programs didn't play tough schedules in 2023. With a slate that owned a 5.7 strength of schedule, Omaha Skutt Catholic played the toughest schedule in Nebraska's second largest classification while Platteview competed against Class C's top schedule.

As you browse through this week's Top 10, listed next to each team is its won-loss record in parentheses, its opposition's combined won-loss record and the school's MaxPreps strength of schedule rating. On the second line, of course, is each team's Classification and MaxPreps Nebraska ranking as of Monday.

MaxPreps' strength of schedule rating for each team was the basis for ranking baseball teams this week. In the case of a tie, the club whose opponents produced the higher winning percentage collectively was granted the higher ranking.

Nebraska's Top 10 toughest high school baseball schedules

1. Creighton Prep (Omaha) (16-10) | 407-278 | 9.8
Class A No. 7 | Nebraska No. 10

2. Millard North (Omaha) (7-17) | 405-246 | 8.9
Class A No. 19 | Nebraska No. 37

3. Millard South (Omaha) (20-12) | 484-352 | 7.9
Class A No. 9 | Nebraska No. 13

4. Elkhorn South (Omaha) (23-7) | 455-326 | 7.7
Class A No. 3 | Nebraska No. 3

5. Millard West (Omaha) (27-5) | 468-366 | 7.4
Class A No. 1 | Nebraska No. 1

6. Omaha Westside (Omaha) (13-13) | 411-295 | 7.1
Class A No. 13 | Nebraska No. 22

7. Lincoln Southwest (Lincoln) (15-11) | 387-295 | 7.1
Class A No. 11 | Nebraska No. 15

8. Papillion-LaVista (Papillion) (11-17) | 424-314 | 6.8
Class A No. 20 | Nebraska No. 40

9. Grand Island (11-8) | 274-208 | 6.5
Class A No. 12 | Nebraska No. 17

10. Columbus (10-12) | 305-238 | 6.5
Class A No. 14 | Nebraska No. 25